The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-07-15
JOHN BRANDS SECRET.
Why He Asked Miss Penhryn to
Marry Him.

not i, mNSe1 ne3fu IL from seVeral
sources. The surprising part of the
affair was that he should have mag
ined it possible to keep any thing saw
oring of secrecy from the dear old idle
gossips, who, year after year, pitched
their tents at Sea Cliff. that most
charming of watering places. But men
are never consistent! At least that is
my impression. Speaking of gossips,
Idon't hesitate to claim myself a cham
pion. But it is my business to talk;
and talk do with vengeance. How
should / find material wherewith to
smuse the large number of subscribers
to the Weekly Tattler, if did not use
my tongue?
1t is all very well to suppose
That subjects float around in the
brain in picturesque confusion. only
waiting to be seized upon and
conveyed to more healthy local
ities But that's moonshine! Subjects
are, for the most part, picked up from
everyday intercourse with everyday
people, and are nodded into shape by
n persistent method of grinding. At
least that's how l get mine. For the
past five years l have spent the months
of July and August at the Sea Cliff,
Ocean Beach Hotel; and it can readily
be conceived how close a resemblance
/ bear to the crafty Machiavel. when l
state that l continue to sail under
false colors, insomuch as my identity
has never been discovered, and l con-
tiEue to pass for the most inoffensive
and innocent of women!
In reality, am the most hypocriti-
cal. While my friends are chattcring
away indiscreetly. l am mentally TAX
ing notes and drawing differences. So
that when l HE me away to my lodg-
ing-house in New York, have only to
deposit the contents of my battered in
trunk upon the floor, and, presto! what
a budget of items greet me? l chuckle
as sort them over.
But to return. The Ocean Beach
Hotel is small. very exclusive, and, l
may add, very expensive. My pres
ence there is easily accounted for. The
1ottler defrays my expenses. Such is
literary distinction!
We have only the genuinely swell
people stopping here. Most of our
rooms overlook the grand old ocean;
and the ocean at Sea Cliff is something
10 write about; bound as it is by rug
x,cI nn,St own, which ,.n.Ec Of ,,,nuu
famous grandeur tower majestically.
Often have | stood upon the balcony
leading from my chamber. and fancied
myself in some enchanted land, so re-
splendent is the scene which met my
eye. Fancy a moonlit sea, lying pale
and spectral in the witching calm of a
midsummer night. Imagine vast
army of tremulous waves, bathed in
opalescent light, rising and falling
tumultuously; picture those foamy bill
lows. rapturously tossing themselves,
one against the other. till, in an ecstacy
of passion, they dash against the sky.
where a blood-red star pierces their
frctting bosom, and sends them foam
ing. seething, raging back into their
ocean bed.
Sea Cliff by 4 v is quite as attractive
rs Sea Cliff by night. At least it is to
the generality of p,opie. The MOTEL
this last season was filed to overflow
ing. but as my story has only to do
with a lady. a gentleman and an old
woman, l will contine myself to them.
The gentleman knew very we'll:
that is, l had q several summers ac-
auaintance with him. He interested
me Immensely, and have no hesitation
in confessing it, indeed. longed to
write him up, but the unfeeling wretch
never gave me the ghost of a chance.
However, opportunities always arrive.
if we wait long enough for them. and
mine came. at last l seized upon it
with avidity. The gentleman refer
10 was Mr.. John Brand. eight and
thirty or thereabouts, and a lawyer by
profession. He was the last person in
the world one would select for hero;
a grave, taciturn fellow, who stunned
society. and who passed the bet
ter part of his time grinding away at the
dullest of all the dull law books that
his library contained. Something of a
cynic, he held a great many dogmatic
views. and these he did not scruple to
infuse into the really creditable articles
which. from time to time. appeared in
the leading journals over his signature.
This arbitrary and self-opinionated dis
position, while it won for him high
place at the bar, failed to endear him
10 his associates or friends. Those
who once felt the sting of his satire
were wont to hold aloof afterward, and
it thus happened that, though rich.
brilliant and successful, he was not a
general favorite. Don't let it be sup
posed THAI the knowledge of this ostra-
cism disturbed his equanimity, or in
any way caused him discontinue; it
didn't. He was quite sufficient unto
himself, and derived neither any great
degree of satisfaction nor enjoyment
FROM an intimate association with his
feilow-beings.
For all his austerity and virulence.
Mr.. Brand was, nevertheless. the pos
SCISSOR Of very good heart; but he had